Card of the Week Series

About the drawing - Mission 1

CARD 20 REVERENCE (sunflowers): The root of the word reverence means to “stand in awe.” What makes you feel awe?

About the drawing: This drawing was made on a foggy April morning in San Francisco. I felt like we needed a burst of energy and clarity from a flower and decided to try something new by drawing sunflowers from a picture of a Van Gogh painting: Two Cut Sunflowers, 1887.

The word reverence came up while I was drawing – I felt a reverence for the original sunflowers that inspired Van Gogh to paint, a reverence for the artist who to this day inspires so much love in so many people, a reverence for our ability to be connected to artists and to nature by the simple act of paying attention. For a short moment, I felt my own hand being moved by Van Gogh’s – like a loving dance across time.

It made me realize that reverence is an extreme form of gratitude that we can choose to practice in our lives when we put our minds to it. What reverence do you notice in your life right now?